A New Genre: "Street Lit"

Anne Barnard explains the hugely popular emerging "street lit" genre in a NY Times article from October 23, 2008
From the Streets to the Libraries.

Readers are attracted to the genre because it speaks to their urban environment with authentic descriptions of ghetto life. Many libraries are embracing a sometimes controversial genre of “street lit” in an effort to attract new readers. Urban public librarians think that this genre is pulling in readers and often leads to expansion of their reading interests.

Judy Gressel

The Future of Reading

Is the Internet the enemy of reading, or has it created a new kind of reading, one that society should not discount? Read the New York Times series on the Future of Reading.
Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?By MOTOKO RICH--July 27, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The second article in the series appears in today’s New York Times.

Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers
By MOTOKO RICH --October 6, 2008
Publishers, authors and even libraries are embracing video games to promote books to young readers. I know that gaming has become very big in libraries, as a way to draw patrons. This article suggests that they really aren’t checking out any books.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/books/06games.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Judging by reader comments, most people are in agreement that video games cannot replace reading. But will this traditional view of reading hold in decades to come?